nugent



(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. NUGBNT.

WOUD SCREW MACHINE.

Patented J Edu/@ni Jgen/ By his Aflor ley N. PETERS, Pllnlo-Liiwgruphr. Washington, l)4 C.

(No Model.)

7 sheets-sheen 2.

E. NUGENT. WOOD SCREW MACHINE.

vPatented July 31, 1883.

" @HUF lI HUH .mw Hummm .m Hummm 7 sheets-sheet '3.

(No Model.)

E NUGENT Woon SCREW MACHINE. No. 282,107.

Patented July 31, 1883.

W/T/VESSES aj/@M N. PETERS. Phu

(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 4.

4 E NUGENT WOOD SCREW MACHINE.

Patented July 31,1883.

/V VENTO/'. Edward ./Y'Lcynf By 7116 Afforney M u W/mfssfs @mf/4M QQ@ W @M (No Model.)

7 Sheets-Sheet 5. E. NUGENT. WOOD SCREW MACHINE.

No. 282,107. Patented July 31, 1883.

/N VENTOH WIT/VESSES 7%?? QM. we @ma Edward Juyen y Y Af/orney .l garner. wzwingfm D. c;

(No Model.)

E. NUGENT.

WOOD SCREW MACHINE. No. 282,107. Patented Jilly 31, 1888.

@u l? 3 `l|..f2| HW g c: umn g i u @mm O 8 f- Il ILP Hamm@ ,l Um

',"Urj ,ml il I 'In S s UNITI-Will .Il l l um Q 'f'l e mi i1 f5 MMIII G es) 5 ml ,l s l S wml! w/mfssfs l /NVENTH f A/HQQO Hey. 12 .7

7 Sheets-Sheet 6.

(N Model.)

a 7% @wa/5 7 Sheets-Sheet /7.

E. NUGBN T.

Woon SCREW MACHINE.,

Patented July 31, 1883.

www

@will Y ulinmm:

Lllllll' Edu/ard f/T'zggen,

By his A Harney UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDVARD NUGENT, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO ALGERNON K. JOHNSTON, OF STATEN ISLAND, NEV YORK.

WOODSACREW MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 282,107. dated July 31,i 1883.

Application led September 16,1882. (No model.)

To all whom, t muy concern.`

' Be it known that I, EDWARD NUGENT, of

Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vood-Screw Machinery, oi' which the following is a specification. n

My invention relates to machines for automatically cutting screw-threads upon blanks for screws, and more particularly to that class 1o of such machines known as group screw-cutting machines. j

My improvements, mainly, have reference iirst, to the hopper and means 'for delivering the blanks therefrom to the guideways; second, to the instrumentalities which regulate the feed and delivery ofthe blanks to the clamping-jaws; and, third, to the mechanism by which the movements of the barsthat carry the cutter-formers or pattern-.cams and mova- 2c ble portions of the jaws are controlled; and `they,together with other features of my invention, can best be explained and understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in` which is represented a group screw-cutting 2 5 machine embodying my several improvements in their preferred form.

In the drawings, Figure lis a plan of a machine in which are grouped four sets of screwcutting mechanisms. Two hoppers only are 3o represented, the other two, together with their supporting-frame and the rotating feed-ingers which work in them, being removed in order to disclose parts of the machine. situated beneath them. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of 3 5 the machine with one of the cuttenstocks removed. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation ofthe machine. Fig.v 4 is an elevation of that side of the machine on which is' placed the cam 4which controls the movements of the jaw-carrying 4o and cutter-former bars and the blank receiving and delivering arm. Fig..5 is a section on line 5 5,`Fig. l. Fig. 6 is a horizontal secl tion, partly in elevation, the plane of section passing just above the reciprocating cuttercarrier. In this iigure a portion of the carrier is broken away so as to disclose one of the formersor patterns', together with that portion of the stock of the cutter that works against it. Fig. 7 is a sectional front eleva- 5o tion, on an enlarged scale, of one set of clamping-jaws, together with the cutter and cutterstock and blank feeding and delivering mechanism which co-operate with said set of jaws.

In this figure the parts are represented in the position which they occupy when the cutter is operating on ablank contained in the jaws. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the same parts in the position which they assume when the blank receiving and delivery mechanism has just delivered a blank to the stationary jaw 6o and the movable jaw is about to advance to ward the other so as to close upon the blank. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic figure representing a development of the cam which controls the movement of the former or pattern-bar and the j aw-carrying bar.

Each of the four sets of screw-cutting mechanisms that compose the group is the counterpart of the others, both in construction and in mode of operation, so that a descrip- 7o tion of one will answer for all.

A is the blank-holding hopper. It can best be understood by reference to Figs. l and 5. The blanks before being put into it have their heads iinished and nicked. The bottom ofthe hopper is curved from front to rear, and in it is formed a slot, c, which extends likewise from front to rear, and is at the front bounded by ridges a, which gradually rise from the bottom of the hopper and meet the guide- 8o ways B, between which the blanks from the hopper pass to the mechanism for cutting the screw-thread. The distan cebetwecn the guideways is equal to the width of the slot c, and the width of the latter' is such as to permit 85 only theshank or body of the blank to pass through it, so that blanks which may happen to fall therein will hang suspended by the head, as indicated inFig. Vithin the hopper, and in line with the slot, are one or more 9o fingers, b, which are attached to and project from a slowly-rotating shaft, l, driven from any suitable source. In the arrangement shown in the drawings only one finger is employed to each hopper, which, in practice, I have found will answer every purpose. The finger is placed eccentrically to the slot-that is to say, the slot is so formed, and the axis of rotation of the finger is so placed relatively thereto, that the iinger will at the rear of the hop- Ioo per enter or project into and through the slot quite a distance, and will then, as it travels e ese,

toward the front of the hopper, gradually emerge from the slot until, as it reaches the point where the slot joins the ways B, its point will be out of the slot, or thereabout, and tangential to the end` of the ways, as indicated in Fig. 5, where it is represented in the act of lifting a blank by the head out of the slot into the passage formed bythe guideways, its action being to tilt the blank over the ends of the guideways into the passage between them, avoiding all contact with the blank, save at its head. Then once the blank is fairly in the guideways the finger leaves it, and the blank descends, by' force of gravity, between the downwardiy-inclined guideways to the point, whence it passes therefromto the jaws. At the point where the guideways pass through the front of the hopper there is lan opening above the guideways of sufficient size to permit the passage of' the'head ofthe blank that hangs between them. I have found it essential, in order to prevent liabilityof the blanks choking or jamming in the slot during the operation of the machine, to give the finger a curved form substantially like that shown in the drawings, by this means acting on the blanks which are in the slot with the point or tip only of the finger, and putting the rest of it in a position where it cannot interfere with those blanks, and where it will keep the slot clean of others. The finger also acts as a stirrer during its passage through the mass of blanks in the hopper, thus causing one er more of them to fall into the slot, so as to be in readiness -for the finger when it next comes around. y

In this class of machines the blank-receiv ing slot heretofore has been concentric with the axis of' rotation of the finger, and this, of course, I do not claim. Hy improvement in this direction is found in the eccentric arrangement of these parts, as above described, by which I obtain material advantages 'over the old arrangement, the finger acting on the blank in the slot with greater ease and 'less liability of jamming, and also operating with entire certainty to tilt the blanks over the end of the slot into the gnideways. The guideways extend downward in a sinuous pathfrom the hopper to a point just above the dies,fand are so. formed and arranged that at this point the blanks will lie point foremost, one-above the other, in a horizontal plane or parallel with the dies, as indicated in Figs. '1, 2, 5,'and 7, in which last-named figure the blanks are represented by dotted lines. The blanks are maintained in this position by a receiving and delivering mechanism, which feeds the blanks one by one, at the proper intervals, to the clamping-j aws. This mechanism, together with the jaws, will now be described.

There are two jaws, C C. The jaw C is stationary, and has in its face a half-round horizontal groove, c, which extends from front'to rear of the jaw. The jaw C has a corresponding half-round groove, c. It is mounted upon a slide-bar, D, which, by suitable mechanism,

has a reciprocating movement imparted to it at proper intervals, so as to move C up to and away from the stationary jaw. Then the two come together, as indicated in Fig. 7, their two half-grooves, c c', meet and form a cylindrical hole of a size to receive and fit the shank of the vscrew-blank, the movable jaw C being of a width from front to rear to embrace only that portion of the shank which is to remain nnscrew-threaded. The bar D is mounted in proper bearings, so as to be capable of sliding lengthwise, and is causedto reciprocate in this direction by mechanism which will be hereinafter described.

The receiving and delivering mechanism consists of two parts, a vibratory or reciprocating blank-receiver, E, 'and a stop or cutoff, F, whose construction and arrangement can best be seen in Figs. l, 2, 4, 7 ,and S. The receiver E `is a hook-like arm which extends downward from the outer end of a rod, FJ, that is fastenedv to and projects forward from a rock-shaft supported in proper bearings in the frame ofthe machine. I ceiver normally stands as shown in Fig. 7, in which position its bent or hook-like lower end extends across the end of the passage between the guideways B, so as to intercept and sustain the screw-blanks that lietherein. It will be noted here vthat the inner or acting vertical faceof the stationary jaw C is in line with, or on prolongation of, the side of the passage opposite that on which the receiveris placed. The receiver occupies this position so long as the jaws are-closed. As soon, however, as the jaws are opened the receiver descends, and gradually lowering that blank which rests directly upon it guides it into the half-groove vinthe stationary jaw, as seen in Fig. 8,'and maintains it there until the movable jaw C again moves up and closes around the blank, at which time it rises and resumes its first po-4 sition. (Shown in Fig. 7.) There is no interference between the jaw C and the receiver, for that jaw is of less length than the stationary jaw, and the receiver is situated so as to workin front of G,'in`connection with that portion of the stationary jaw-C which extends farther to tlie front than its fellow. It is requisite to prevent the mass of blanks above the lowermost one from following its movement when it is lowered by the receiver, as j ust explained, so that only one blank at a time and at proper intervals shall be fed to the jaws. To this end I make use of the stop or cut-off' F. This device consists of a horizontal cross pin orplate, which works .through a hole in the guideways, and is mounted on'the end of' a springarm, F', attached to the frame. This spring-arm has on it a swell orincline, d, and upon the vertical portion of the receiver is a projection, d, intended to a'ct in connection with the swell or incline d. The distance between the crosspin F and the bent lower end of the receiver is about equal to the diameter of the screw-blank, so that when the lowermost blank rests upon the receiver the point of the cut-off or cross- The re- IOO IIO

pin will stand opposite to the lineof contact between that blank and the one next above,

permitting but 011e blank to be delivered byV the receiver, andY upholding the others, -as indicated in Fig. 8, until the receiver resumes its original position, at which time the cut-off will return also to its first position (seen in Fig. 7) and permit the blanks to drop until theybring up against the receiver. This feed mechanism is very simple in constructionand is entirely effective and certain in operation.

I now proceed to describe the mechanism bv which the screw-thread is cut upon the blank held in the dies..

G- is the cutter, and G the cutter-stock. The

cutter is placed in a recess or socket in the stock, and is there held by a cap, e. A stop-gage, j', on the head of the stockis provided for the purpose of determining accurately Vthe position of the cutter. The cap e is fastened in place by the screw e. The cutter-stock is designed to vibrate upon a horizontal axis toward and away from the screw-blank in the dies,-and for this purpose it is provided 011 its rear face with a horizontal projecting short stud or axle, g, (see Fig. 6,) mounted in bearings g on a carrier bed or plate, H, which latter, by suitable mechanism hereinafter described, has imparted to it a reciprocating movement from front to rear, so as to impart the requisite transverse motion to the cutter. The Vibratingmovement of the cutter-stock is for the purpose of causing the cutter t-o approach and recede from the blank at proper times, and in order to cause the cutter to follow the taper of the blank I employ a pattern cam or former, I, mounted on a longitudinally-reciprocating bar, I, to which proper movements are imparted `by mechanism which will be presently described. Arlhe former I is intended "to act on the tail or lower end of the stock G',

which `is 4held `against it by the stress of a spring,'G2, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 6. The straight portion of the former is traversed by the stock while the cutter is working on-the cylindrical part of the blank, and it traverses the inclinedpart of the former while working on the tapering point of the blank, as will be understood without further explanation. The

Vcutter is intended to traverse the blank seven times for a screw of the size used in thefillustration, cutting into it a little deeper-each time, so as iinally to cut a thread of the proper depth. For this purpose one end of the `forme'r-barl is prolonged beyond the end of the machine, and has rigidly attached to Vthis end a rearwardly-extending arm, I2, Fig. 4, provided on its inner face with astud or projection that works against an annular cam, J, formed on the side of a power-driven revolving cam-wheel, J. A spring, I3, serves to pull the bar in the direction requisite to hold the arm I2 with yielding pressure against the can?. This cam isshown developed in Fig. 9.

There are seven rises, 71. h 71% l1.3 1L* h5 h, each a little in advance of its fellow, and seven intervening notches, 'L' and i. The rises l1, &c., are the surfaces which act to hold the former-bar up in position for the cutter-stock. The six notches 'i permit. the bar at the conclusion of each forward movement of the cutter, during six of its traverses, to move to the left, (see Fig. 2,) far enough to allow the tail of the cutter-stock to move in like direction a distance requisite to enable the cutter to clear the blank during the rearward movement of the stock. The seventh notch, is deeper, andis intended, at the conclusion of the seventh and last cut, to permit the bar I to move a greater distance to the left for the purpose of withdrawing at this time the movable jaw C, whose sliding bar 'D is connected with the former-bar by a lever mechanism, which can best be seen in Figs. 2 and 4. This mechanism consists of a twopart lever, K K, hung on a pivot, j, on the frame of the machine. K is the main portion of the lever. It has its lower end forked, so as to straddle a pin, j, on bar I', and its upper end is situated between the machine-frame -and a downwardly-proj ecting lip or flange, D,

on the right-hand end of the bar D. Vith the upper end of the `main portion of the lever is combined the other part, K, which is held thereto by a headed rod or bolt, lr, passing loosely through K, and having on that part of it which projects beyond K a spiral spring, c, confined between the head of the rod and the lever. The part D of the slide-bar D is held between K and K', as shown. Then the slidebar I is drawn out by one of the rises l1, the jawcarrying bar D is by the part K pushed inward, so as to close the jaw C against its fellow, and the `movement is sufficient to carry theupper end of the lever part K some distance away from D, and to put the spring k IOO IIO

under considerable compression, as indicated in Fig. 2. Consequently when the arm I2 drops into the shallow notches z' the lever `part K can move without disturbing the jawcarrier or plate H are imparted to it by scrollcams H on a rotating shaft, 3, as indicated in Figs. and 6. The carrier is held in yielding contact with these cams by a stiffl retractingspring, I, Fig. G.'

The rising-and-falling movement of' the receiver E is obtained from the cam-wheel J through the intermediary of an arm, El, fixed slot, p, in theshank.

Vvolves with a shaft, 4L..

to and projecting from shaft EL, and provided with a friction wheel or roller, E, which is held in contact with the periphery of the camwheel J by a spring, m, as seen in Fig. et. The cam-wheel has on its periphery a swell or rise, n, which acts to rock the shaft E at the proper time during each revolution of the cam-wheel.

It now remains to describe what is known in machines of this class as the screw-driving inechanism,"-that is to say, the mechanism by which the screw-blank is rotated during the time it is operated on by the cutter. This mechanism is shown 1n ore plainly in Figs. 1 and 5. rEhe serewdriver proper is a tw o-part driver consisting of the shank L and stem L@ which latter ts in a socket in the front end of the former and is pushed forward by a spring, o. The stem is united to the shankby a cross-pin, p, whose ends extend into a short longitudinal rFhe stem is thus per mitted to have a limited longitudinal movement independently of the shank, but both must revolve together and in unison. The object ofthe former provision is to enable the point of the screw-driver to more readily find and enter the nick in the head of the screwblank, in line with which' the screw-driver is placed. The shank L is mounted in a rotary power-driven tubular shaft or sleeve, M, with which it is connected by a pin-and-slot connection, Ir r, similar to that shown at p p', the object being to render the screw-driver capable of moving back and forth in the tubular sleeve by which it is rotated, so as to bring it into and out of engagement at proper times with the head of the blank. In order toimpart to the screw-driver this back-and-forth movement, the head ofthe shank L is formed with an annular iiange, s, which engages and runs in a groove, s', in the top of a vibratory lever, N, pivoted to the machine-frame at f, and provided at its lower end with a stud or teat that bears upon the periphery of' a cam, N', with which it is held in yielding contact by a spring, o. rlhe cam is fixed on and re- 111 the upper end of the lever N is a bearing-screw, w, which can be set up against the head of the screw-driver and is held in that position by a set-screw, 0r.

The shafting and driving-gearing may be briefly described as follows z The main or driving shaft is shown at 5. It communicates a rapid movement ofcontinuous rotation to the several scr w-drivers through beveled gears 6 7. Shaft 3 is driven from shaft 5, through the intermediary of' pinion S and spur-wheel 9. Shaft et, on which are mounted both the camwheel J and the cams which operate the screwdriver levers, is driven from shaft 3 by pinion 10 and spur-wheel 11. The shaft 1 derives its movement from shaft 8, through the intermediate pulleys, 12 13, an d belt 14. The shaft 3 makes seven revolutions for each revolution of camwheel J. -The parts are so proportioned, arranged, and timed in their movements relatively to one another as to operate in the following way: Suppose the last cut to have been made upon screw-blanks held in the dies and the arm if to have j ust dropped into the deep notch yif ot' cam-wheel J'. The effect will be to cause the j aws O C to open and release the finished screws, (which drop into the discharge spouts or chutes 1/,) and simultaneously to move the former-bar in a direction which will permit thc cutterstocks to turn on their pivots far enough to remove the cutters from. the path of the blanks. The screw-drivers at the same time withdraw far enough to be disengaged from the nicks in the heads of the screws. The receivers E now descend, and each lowers toits appropriate jaw C one screw, the others being retained during this time by the cut-offs F. As soon as this takes place the jaws C move up and close upon the blanks in the stationary jaws C, and simultaneously the former-bar moves to bring the formers up into operative position, and the cutter-carrier reeedes to the point from which the cutters start to cut the thread, the receiver F rising in time to clear the cutters, while by the time the cutters are in position to commence work the screw-drivers have advanced and found the nicks Iin the heads of the blanks, and the latter are consequently in rapid rotation in their jaws. The cutters now move forward and make the first cut, the depth of which is of course determined by the rise h on eamwheel J. The arm 1" then drops into the first notch, fi, which permits the former-bar to move a little toward the left without disturbing the j aw-carrying bar, as hereinbefore explained, and simultaneously the cutter-carrier returns to its first position. 3y thesecond rise, hf, the former-bar is put in a position to cause the cutters as they advance to' make a deeper cut,

ICO

and so on, progressively, until the final, cut is completed, when the arm I" drops into the deep notch if, and the operations hereinbefore described are repeated in the order recited.

It will be noted that in this group screw-cutting machine the cutter-stocks are placed side by side, parallel with one another, on a carrier which moves from front to rear of the machine, and also that the former and jaw carrying bars, the range of whose movement is comparatively short, move laterally, vor from side to side oi' the machine. that cach cutter-stock is mounted upon the carrier on its own pivot or axle, independently` of the others, and has its own separate former or j iattern-cam. By this arrangement I am enabled to reduce the size of t-he machine and also to adjust and change any one of the eutter-stocks or formers without interfering with or changing the adjustment of the others.

I have described what 1 believe to be the best embodiment of' my invention; but it is manifest that the form and construction of the 1t will also be noted parts may be varied considerably without changing the principle or mode of operation of the machine, and without departure from thespirit of my invention. I do ynot therefore restrict myself to the special construction herein shown and described; but

WhatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The hopper, provided in its curved bottom with a blank-receiving slot, in combination with the rotating feeding-nger placed eccentrically to the slot, substantially in the' manner and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the hopper, provided in its curved bottom with a blank-receiving slot,

the guideways having a passage between them forming a continuation of said slot, and the rotating feedingnger placed eccentrically to the slot and adapted to operate on the blanks contained therein, substantially as described.

3. The eccentrically-placed -rotating feediinger, curved as described, in combination with the hopper provided vin its curved bottom with a blank-receiving slot, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

4. The combination, with the blanklholding jaws and the guideways or receptacle from which the blanks pass to said jaws, of the receiver E, arranged and op eratino, substantially as described, to receive a blank from the guideways or receptacle and deliver it to the jaws, the combination being and acting substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination of the blankholding jaws, the guideways or receptacle from which the blanks pass to said jaws, thereceiver E,

which receives and delivers to the jaws from the guideways the lowermost blank contained in the latter, and the independent cut-off or stop for sustaining in the guideways the other blanks while the receiver is delivering its blank to the jaws, these parts being arranged and having the mode of operation substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

6. rlhe spring-controlled cut-off pin and the receiver, in combination with the guideways and the blank-holding jaws, for joint operation, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

7. The j aw-carrying bar and the former-bar, in combination with the two-part spring-lever and its actuating cam-wheel, for joint operation, substantially as hereinbefore set fort-h.

8. The cam-wheel J provided with a side cam for controlling the movement of the jawcarrying bar and former-bar, and with a peripheral cam for actuating the receiver-carrying shaft, in combination with the jaw-carrying bar, the former-bar, the two-part springlever,l and the receiver-carrying shaft, an

ranged and operating substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

9. The series of vibrating cutter-stocks, having independent axles, which extend from front to rear o f the machine and are mounted on a, carrier which reciprocates in a similar direction, in combination with a corresponding series of jaws having their acting faces extending from front to rear, a series of independent formers or pattern-cams, one'for each cutterstock, and laterally-reciprocating jaw and former-carrying bars, these parts being timed in their movements relatively to one another, and adapted to co-operate substantially in the manner hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of September, 1882.

EDVARD NUGENT.

Witnesses:

A. K. J oI-rNsroN, JACOB G. CARPENTER. 

